I've been doing a lot of reading lately about remote work culture and the ways in which companies with remote workers promote a healthy work–life balance. When you work from home, it's easy to get caught up in your responsibilities and work way more hours than are expected (or paid) by your employer. You can't just turn off work-mode and forget about your responsibilities at the end of the day when your work life blends so seamlessly with your home life. You might even start to feel guilty when you're not working, which will only lead to anxiety and unhappiness.
It's vital to establish work boundaries when you work from home just to maintain your physical and mental health, and here are 4 ways you can make sure you get them.
Exercise
Exercise is not only good for your health but also to increase productivity. When I told my parents I wanted to work as a freelancer (to which they rolled their eyes), I maintained that my biggest reason for doing so is because I didn't want to get stuck in some corporate job that pressured me to work long hours and neglect my health. I used to sit on the 6:10am GO train observing the overworked, exhausted, and deeply unhappy-looking people heading to work, and thinking about how awful it would be commuting at 6am for a 9–5 job and then be too exhausted to exercise or do anything else by the end of the day. To me, that would be the ultimate waste of life.
Try to schedule a workout around the same time everyday, that way it will become habit and you'll eventually learn to work around it. If you're "too busy" to workout, at least try to fit in 20 minutes of moving around (intense cleaning? dance around the kitchen while you make lunch?) to stretch your legs and increase your heart rate.
Unplug
You probably use the same computer for work that you do your personal life, so even when you're not working, you still probably get work notifications, or feel inclined to check your work email every so often. Especially if you work for a remote company whose employees are dispersed throughout different timezones. Always having work on your mind prevents you from being in the moment and really enjoying your personal time, whether it's with your family, watching Netflix, or hanging out with your friends. There are so many great apps available that can completely block your access to work-related things for set periods of time, or you can just manually put your phone on DO NOT DISTURB.
Schedule
You don't have to work 9-5 to balance your work and personal lives. Working remotely gives you the freedom to work whenever is most convenient for you. But that doesn't mean you should go with the flow. No matter how much freedom you have in your career, a schedule will help you keep on track. A schedule says "this is when I will work, and this is when I'll stop--no matter what I'm in the middle of." There's always going to be something more you have to do, so a schedule tells you when to drop it and when to start working on it again.
Personally, I use multiple planners: daily, weekly, and monthly. I use them each for different purposes, and they help to remind me what I need to accomplish over a longer period of time vs in the next day or two. I had a friend who would set phone alarms for literally everything she had to do. It would go off every few hours with messages like "call mom" or "pick up dry cleaning," and that's what worked for her. Figure out what works for you to keep your schedule at least somewhat structured, whether it's using ten different planners or setting alarms to remind yourself to take a break.
Charge
We all have those clients who expect us to be available 24/7 or work over the weekend. If your client or employer starts expecting you to be available at their convenience, make it clear that you work regular hours and if a project is timely, you charge extra for last-minute work. We all need to put in extra hours occasionally, but when it becomes a recurring event, you need to put your foot down and set some boundaries between your work and personal lives. If you're always "on," chances are you probably aren't performing to the best of your abilities.